


Light in the Darkness

by hope27



Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: Comfort/Angst, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-17
Updated: 2014-01-17
Packaged: 2018-01-09 00:26:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,155
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1139279
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hope27/pseuds/hope27
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Oliver sees someone from his past, the darkness of his time on the island begin to overwhelm him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Light in the Darkness

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys! I don't know where this came from exactly. But I was in a not so great headspace when I started it and was encouraged to finish it and post it. It's not much, but it's something that I apparently needed to write.
> 
> Thanks to anthfan and befitandchase for their beta. Also...for just being wonderful to me.
> 
> As always, I love to hear what you think! Let me know! :) Thanks!

He hadn't said a word when he came down the stairs. The image of the man he'd seen walking down a crowded Starling City street playing on a loop in his head. It had left him reeling, hanging on to the edge of a cliff with no rope and no hand to help him back up.

There was no way. He couldn't be alive. He was dead. He'd killed him.

Slade Wilson was dead.

But he knew that man like the back of his hand. Had learned from him; studied him for years. 

The roar in his ears grew to a deafening din and he could barely force air through his lungs as he picked up his bow and examined it carefully. His fingers ran along the black steel edges, the finely crafted instrument providing an anchoring force. With shaking hands, he lifted it, searching for the peace holding it normally provided him.

Closing his eyes, he fought against the sudden onslaught of memories - nightmares actually. The sounds of bullets and arrows, cries and shouts of agony - his own agony - and an overlaying darkness that he'd been trying to outrun since he stepped foot back in Starling City.

His entire body was pulled taut and yet he felt as if he could fly apart at any moment, giving into the shadows that threatened to consume him.

He'd defeated that island. But he had yet to defeat the darkness that clung to the corners of his consciousness; the ghosts that laid in wait until he shut his eyes in sleep and then invaded his unguarded mind, twisting faces and realities, facts and falsehoods, until he woke up screaming, terror gripping his heart and desperately wanting to crawl out of his own skin to escape the horror.

He felt those shadows now; felt that darkness and the sudden appearance of someone from that past called them up and broke the walls he had obstructed around them.

Somewhere in the distance he heard the clanging of metal meeting concrete but he couldn't focus on it. Everything was closing in, stalking around him as if he was a wounded animal, blood calling to them.

Slade had opened a wound, and now they were all salivating to get the first taste; to bring him back down into the world of kill or be killed; fight until you dying breath and maybe then you'll find peace. 

_Peace._ Something deep inside of him craved that - reached for that elusive emotion that constantly seemed to slip through his fingers.

The shadows laughed at the notion of peace and snatched it from his hands time and time again.

His muscles ached under the strain, and yet he couldn't release them. 

Everything around him was spinning into darkness and he couldn't find one thing to hold on to keep him from falling into that deep abyss.

Then there was something cool that curled around his fist - a hand; another landing on his face, and the shadows shrieked at it. His body reacted, snatching the hand in his own and bodily flipping it’s owner.

A distant cry was heard but he couldn't stop the shouts of agony that filled his head.

_Oliver._

His name in that same voice. It shoved at the darkness, breaking through the fog until he could see bits and pieces of light slanting through it. 

_Oliver, it’s me._

His brow wrinkled, blackness fighting the light pulling at the dark edges. Slowly, images began to come into focus.

He blinked. Once. Blonde hair. Twice. Dark glasses. Three times. Vibrant pink lips. Again. Blue eyes seeking out his own, oceans he would gladly get lost in; he dove without hesitation.

With a gasp, the darkness folded around him and he came back to himself. He was on the ground, Felicity beneath him, pressed into the mat, his arm across her chest, holding her down.

He reacted instantly, the shadows retreating as she stared up at him, bringing him back. Scrambling backwards, he tried to retreat, but her hands flashed out with more speed than he knew she was capable of and pulled him towards her.

Her hand landed on his cheek, and he instantly recognized it as the coolness he’d felt earlier. Without thinking, he leaned into it, eyes slipping shut and then snapping open when he realized the ghosts were still too close to the surface.

_It’s okay. You’re okay. You’re safe._

Her calm voice soothed him and he let out a long, ragged breath, his head falling forward. Her other hand caught him and tugged him down until his cheek lay against her chest.

Small hands carded through his hair and he stayed like that, listening to her heartbeat until the last of the demons and darkness had dissipated in the face of her light.

When he finally raised his head again, she was watching him carefully, her fingers trailing softly over the lines in his forehead. With more gentleness than he thought he deserved, she smoothed them out and offered him a small smile.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered brokenly, but she covered his lips with her thumb before he could continued.

She didn’t say anything more than shake her head. No apologies were necessary.

“Talk to me. What happened?” she whispered quietly, her small hands continuing to cradle his head.

“He’s back,” he breathed, and with those words the memories threatened to come back, pounding on the walls, seeping through the light she brought.

“Who?” she asked quietly but she could feel her muscles tense.

He swallowed, a name spilling from his lips that he hadn’t spoken since the island. “Slade Wilson.”

Brow furrowing, he watched as she methodically searched her mind for any recollection of the name. She wouldn’t find it. He’d made sure not to mention his name specifically. It was too painful. Too much.

“Tell me.” she implored, eyes searching his and he saw she’d read him as usual.

“It’s a long story,” he swallowed, shifting with the body wracking shudder that ran through him.

She offered him a small smile, “I’ve got the time.”

Once again, the thought that he didn’t deserve her ran through his mind. With carefully controlled movements, he lifted himself, hand trailing down to catch her elbow as he did and bringing her with him. 

When they were sitting, her legs curled underneath her skirt, his stretched out next to her, he opened his mouth only to shut it again, not knowing where to even start. He could feel the memories - that overarching darkness just waiting in the wings for him to open these old wounds and seep back in - and he shut his eyes against the thought.

Her hand - now warm - found his on the mat, twining them together and squeezing them tight.

_I’m not going anywhere._

Turning his hand, he clung to her as he opened his mouth and began to speak knowing her light would keep the darkness at bay.


End file.
